Jonas: It all adds up
November 4, 2009 by Kimberly Jonas
Filed under Be Inspired, Perspective
Every day is made up of 24 hours. That’s 1,440 minutes, 86,400 seconds. That’s 86,400 opportunities we have each day to be thankful.
Okay, maybe that feels like a little much, given how many things we have to accomplish in one day. So let’s back it up to hours. Hours that we’re awake. Say, an average of 16 hours a day. That’s 16 opportunities to express gratitude every day.
That seems pretty reasonable. So why don’t we do it? Why do we so often save up our gratitude and express it only on special days that demand it, like Thanksgiving?
This busy life we lead.
The fact is, we are living at a time when things are moving at break-neck speed. With constant advances in technology, medicine and product innovation, the call to watch more YouTube, push our bodies to the brink and consume more things becomes almost deafening. Our minds and environment convince us that more is better, less is lazy. In fact, we can barely get through our to-do list every day, let alone express gratitude 16 ways, 16 times.
This is what I refer to as the Erosive Life. A life that is measured by what we still have to do, causing levels of emotional and physical erosion that is harder and harder to shore up over time.
Sure, in the beginning, we hardly notice. Adrenaline, caffeine and will power keep us going. Until those things no longer meet endless energy demands. And a whole host of other symptoms start to present: fatigue, burnout, resentment and depression among them. Adding up until we get the flu or have to take a full day off to recover. After which, we start the same process all over again.
It would seem that there has to be an alternative solution to the Erosive Life, other than this cycle that ends in stop-gap, siren-blaring, last-ditch emergency measures.
Sustainability.
This is where our 16 doses of gratitude come in. Acting as the braking system for our ever-busy lives. As we take time, every waking hour, to express some measure of gratitude, we redirect the mind from its standard, “do more” initiative. Asking ourselves to be satisfied with what we do have, rather than what we do not. Satisfied with what we have accomplished, rather than what we have not.
In effect, we are reprogramming the mind and body, asking them to take stock of what is good and healthy in our lives, rather than encouraging them to be constantly moving toward what’s next, what’s better, what’s not yet done. Over time, as we feed that part of ourselves that is satisfied with what is, we stem the erosion that comes from our co-dependent relationship with the should-have’s and must-do’s in our lives. Our gratitude becomes the fuel that balances and sustains us, even during the busiest and most pressing of times.
Give it a try.
Your trial period can start right now. Give yourself two weeks. One time, every hour that you are awake, stop and take at least one minute to express gratitude. Move beyond the lure of lip service and really dive into a full, detailed, rich articulation. You may speak it, write it, sing it, dance it, think it or draw it; to yourself or to someone else. The important thing is that you do this with all of your attention focused on the moment — no folding the laundry or leaving the stereo on while crafting your thanks. Stop everything and direct your energy and attention toward the gratitude.
Because you are asking your system to consciously develop a new, more sustainable pattern that keeps erosive tendencies at bay, it may not always be easy. Hence the Rx of once per hour, every day. As with anything, regular practice will get you through the rough patches, until your efforts add up to a daily life marked by ease, presence, and, yes — gratitude.
We want to hear about your daily gratitude practice. Email kjonas@womensmag.com with your story.
– By Kimberly Jonas
Jonas, of Boulder, facilitates individual and group experiences in body awareness, personal inquiry and intentional space. Contact her at www.kimberlyjonas.com.
